At this week's EGM of Sutton United FC Limited, it was agreed to expand the company's share base from 2,000 to 4,000 shares. Over time, this will also potentially double the club's avaialble share capital.

However, as Company Secretary Dave Farebrother explains, this was not primarily a financial move. "SUFC Ltd was founded in 1953 as a £50 company. That was not appropriate for a 21st century company and so we expanded the share-base to £100,000 about 6 years ago, which provided an opportunity for a lot more people to acquire an interest in their club. We have to admit though that we were taken a little by surprise by how popular that share expansion was and a few months ago the last of those 2,000 shares was sold. There remained a waiting list of people still wishing to buy shares and, of course, the Trust wants to acquire a bigger stake. We believe that this latest expansion will serve us well for many years."

Existing sharehodlers will all be offered the right to buy new shares up to the value of their current holding. "We expect some shareholders will want to take up their allocation," said Farebrother, "which is good. But others have already indicated that they will decline the option and this will give us the opportunity to offer shares to the Trust and to other supporters. We will be writing to all shreholders over the next week or two to explain what happens next."

Chairman Barry Aplin added "Nobody voted against the resolution and we are greatful for the support we received. It shows how important this club remains to so many people."